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Funds for Cornwall high school consolidation and replacement aren't guaranteed

Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School is one of two Cornwall high schools to be shut down to make way for a $39-million new facility in the next few years. Photo taken on Wednesday July 19, 2017 in Cornwall, Ont.

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The announcement of $52.6-million in provincial funding for the Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB) last month was treated as a big deal.

It was the easiest kind of political announcement; a promise for enough money to build things people want. In this case, it was for renovations to their children’s schools and even a brand new high school in Cornwall to replace ones that are decades old. But in the end, it was just that: a promise.

While the expansion for Roxmore Public School to accommodate the closure of North Stormont Public School can proceed on a comparatively quick timeline — the board already owns the site, it can move to architectural design and tender for construction at its pace — the consolidation of Cornwall’s public high schools and construction of a new high school will take longer.

No money has changed hands between the province and the school board, just assurances the money will be there when UCDSB is ready to spend it as these projects are ready to proceed to construction.

There is an election between now and the time the school board will be ready to spend the bulk of the $39 million it’s been promised for building Cornwall’s new high school. And there doesn’t appear to be any guarantee the money will still be there if the Liberals lose that election.

For the school board, the possibility that a new Progressive Conservative or New Democrat government might withdraw the province’s promise of capital funding doesn’t bear thinking about. According to UCDSB superintendent Jeremy Hobbs, they have no choice but to proceed under the assumption that nothing will change, even if the party in charge at Queen’s Park does.

“The money is guaranteed to the extent that the government has committed to it publicly, and we are working already on the basis that it will be fully available to us,” said Hobbs. “We can’t predict what could or would happen in the event that a government would change.”

With the Liberals down badly in the polls for months, it appears increasingly likely a new party will lead Ontario’s government in 2018.

The PCs have taken a hard line on the hot-button issue of rural school closures, saying that the rash of closures and amalgamations needs to be stopped. The new $39-million high school would require the closure of Cornwall Collegiate and Vocational School and St. Lawrence Secondary School so their student bodies could be merged into the new facility. While one of the names might survive the consolidation, the current buildings won’t.

When asked about whether his party would stick to the Liberal’s funding promise if they form government next year, local MPP Jim McDonell was noncommittal.

McDonell said the PCs don’t have enough information to make a decision because the Liberals are blocking the Opposition’s access to government data.

“Generally you honour commitments that are made, but we don’t have all the information we would need to evaluate all the funding that has occurred yet. They’re making funding promises for the next 12 years,” said Mcdonell. “We’ve tried to get to get access, and we just don’t have it.”

But, said McDonell, it is clear that there are schools in the region, which are badly in need of being replaced and he has no problem doing those projects. This includes the replacing of Cornwall high schools with a new facility.

“Some of that money would be difficult to justify not spending it,” said the MPP. “I think everyone would agree that they need to be replaced. It’s a pretty good bet that would go ahead.”

While McDonell suggests the new high school for Cornwall will go ahead, the education minister’s office isn’t so sure PCs will stick to the funding commitment.

Education Minister Mitzie Hunter’s spokesman, Richard Francella, confirmed that nothing is stopping a new government from backing out of the funding announcement. He went on to suggest that the PCs are likely to want to cut back on spending on education.

“The Conservative leader (Patrick Brown) has so far refused to tell people what he would do when it comes to education, but given his party’s track record in education, we can only assume that he’s planning on making deep cuts including to capital funding,” said Francella.

McDonell said if the PCs come to power, they plan on doing an in-depth evaluation of how education is provided in Ontario to determine what changes can be made; something that he says is long overdue.